Warcraft: Stormwind

Year 25, Day 1

I took a slow, deep breath, and turned away from the bird, doing my best to act as though I hadn’t seen anything. I really hoped that was just a summoned bird and not some sort of bird-shaped magical creature imbued with powerful detection magic. It looked like a mundane animal to my magic detection spells, but then so did Miss Martian and Superman. There clearly existed all sorts of magical species in the multiverse, and my spells were not universal.

So far I’d only run into one spell capable of detecting planeswalkers––Kent’s aether detection spell––but I had to assume that any planeswalker who had been traveling the multiverse for longer than I had would develop or learn a comparable technique. It seemed like an essential skill to have, though I couldn’t really speak to its rarity.

If that was indeed a planeswalker’s summon, it seemed safe to assume that its creator would be somewhere nearby. I…wasn’t sure how I felt about running into another planeswalker. A planeswalker was the worst possible enemy to make for me, particularly if they were capable of somehow following my trail through the Blind Eternities. I had no idea if such a thing was possible, but if it was, then this was the sort of foe from whom I simply could not run far enough. If they were anything like the Brothers of Remnant in terms of power, then I doubted there was much I could do if I happened to catch their attention.

On the other hand, another Planeswalker was also an opportunity. There was still so much about the multiverse and my abilities that I did not know, so many questions that no one but a more experienced Planeswalker could answer. I’d learned so much about my Spark in just a handful of months. How many secrets could someone who’d had one for decades or even centuries reveal to me years before I would have discovered them myself? Perhaps there were better ways of traveling the multiverse, methods of extending the lifespan of summoned creatures, ways to transfer memories between a summon and its original source, and so many other things I didn’t even know to ask about.

For now, caution was the name of the game. I would much rather approach this planeswalker, if I did choose to approach them, on my own terms. I needed to know more about this city and its people before I started addressing a foreign presence somewhere within the walls. Furthermore, it was entirely possible that they were not actually in this city at all, and had simply left a summon behind before continuing their journey. In that case, I’d need to look further afield to find them. Or perhaps, like Ozpin, this bird had been flying around for millenia, the final remnant of a long-ago visitor.

I doubted it, but it was possible. The magic of this creature didn’t look like Ozpin’s. It looked fresh and bright. And a bird seemed more like a scout or a spy than an independent agent.

I watched the bird out of the corner of my eye as Glynda and I continued across the bridge between the trade district and the mage district. It blended in very well with the surroundings. There were pigeons and seagulls perched on various rooftops, and, if I hadn’t known better, I wouldn’t have given the bird a second glance. Who really paid attention to all the random small animals around them in a large city? I certainly didn’t.

It was a rather genius idea, actually. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t considered creating Blueprints from some mundane animals. Experimenting with some of my non-being summons, I’d found that they were able to crudely communicate with me even if they really should be able to do so. The Inferus I’d created from black mana was just slightly different from the ones I crafted from corpses, and the geists I’d summoned could follow orders and keep track of people coming and going past them.

If that held true for animals as well, and I had no reason to believe it didn’t, then such small critters would make for excellent scouts and guards. I’d need to test things out first, but if it worked as I assumed it would, I should take the time to hunt down a stray cat, a few birds, and perhaps a rat. Such animals would likely require no more than one or two mana to summon, and perhaps Zatanna might enjoy having a pet around the house.

Optimally, I’d be able to find something like a kneazle or a post owl. Such magical creatures looked like their mundane counterparts, but were far more intelligent and had a number of innate magical abilities. If not, then even a mundane cat, owl, and perhaps a raven would do in a pinch. Something to remember for the future.

Glynda clearly noticed my momentary pause, her hand drifting down to where her riding crop was hanging from her side. However, when I just kept walking as before, she smoothly continued our conversation as though nothing was wrong. I'd need to fill her in on what I’d seen later, but that could wait until we were somewhere less visible. If there really was another Planeswalker nearby, I would prefer to avoid drawing their attention unintentionally.

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For now at least, I would continue as planned. I still needed to learn more about this plane, and I was very curious about what sort of magics could be found here. I’d seen some very interesting-looking magical armor and weapons that I definitely wanted to take a closer look at, and the magical creatures around here also sounded quite interesting. These ‘night elves’ were very different from the house elves I was familiar with, and, while the dwarves were visually similar to the tribes that could sometimes be found in parts of northern Europe, there were likely at least some differences.

I would however need to change some of my priorities. Bonding a land had just become significantly more time-critical. I had planned to wait until I could find a potential source of Black and Green mana, but that might not be possible now. I doubted there would be many such places within the confines of this city, and researching appropriate locations would take time. If I needed to make a quick exit, I would prefer to already have a land bonded so I could return here in the future

Well, perhaps there was a graveyard somewhere. And if not, some other land would do. Perhaps the Academy of Arcane Arts and Sciences would qualify, or maybe that giant building whose steeple seemed like it must be visible from anywhere in the city. It looked like some sort of church, so perhaps a White land? I could always use more White mana.

We made it to the Blue Recluse without any further issues. We paused briefly to ask a guard for directions, and this one clearly was much more familiar with the area in question. Walking through the Mage district was rather lovely, all things considered. There were wizards and shops catering to them everywhere. The architecture was not quite what I was used to, but there were signs of magic everywhere, to the point that I could imagine that this was just another offshoot of Diagon that I’d somehow never visited before.

Everything and everyone around me glowed beneath my magic sight. Robes were woven with enchantments, there were protective wards on many of the buildings, and the streetlights glowed with heatless flames. Many of the buildings were painted a lovely shade of purple, and open-air stalls had awnings of the same color.

The tavern itself was no different. It was a nice place, certainly more upscale than the inn where I’d rented a room. The main hall was dimly lit, and I could see a number of wizards bent over books, paying far more attention to their studies than the food they were eating.

We found some seats near the center of the seating area, and I ordered each of us a drink just to keep up appearances. Then I renewed my supersensory charm and settled back to listen to the buzz of dozens of conversations happening around me.

As I had expected, the conversation here was much more interesting. The inn was frequented primarily by mages, with a small handful of other visitors such as hunters and what I was pretty sure was some sort of noble. I didn’t learn nearly as much about the general state of the world, but instead gathered considerably more information about what I was actually interested in.

It seemed as though the local school was highly reputed. It was apparently the most prestigious remaining school of magic on this continent, as the previous holder of that title was currently unavailable for some reason. I wasn’t exactly clear on what had happened to this ‘Dalaran’ that several people mentioned, but that was something I could look into later.

The primary type of magic taught here was something called ‘arcane’ magic. There was also frost magic and fire magic, which seemed to be in some way related to the arcane, but were considered separate disciplines. From the sound of it, there were several other forms of magic, but they seemed to be spoken of with distaste by many of the people around me. Necromancy was reviled due to the ongoing battles against the undead that were going on somewhere in the north, while ‘fel’ magic seemed to be used by demons, who were also considered to be rather bad.

Several people also mentioned something called ‘the light’, but I wasn’t sure what exactly that was. It seemed like some form of magic, but also in some way related to religion? There was a Church of the Holy Light that I’d heard come up several times, and the people that wielded this magic were referred to as priests and paladins. I was unfamiliar with the latter, but priests did sound more like religious figures than mages, so I wasn’t really sure what was up with that.

The biggest thing I’d learned however was that the local school of magic had an extensive library, and that this library was open to the public! Outsiders were not allowed to access everything, but even just some books on the fundamentals and general theory would be priceless. Perhaps I could also try to acquire a Blueprint of a potential tutor. That seemed like a more productive way of going about things than trying to join the school or hiring someone who could notice how foreign my own magic was compared to what they were familiar with.

We spent another two hours at the tavern, but then a brawl broke out between a number of patrons and Glynda and I decided that seemed like as good a time as any to get going. It was starting to get late in the afternoon, and the sun was clearly creeping towards the horizon. There was probably about an hour or two of daylight left, not enough time for anything overly serious, but not time to call it a day yet either.

Irritatingly, my small coin pouch was starting to get rather empty. The food and drinks at this tavern had been somewhat more expensive than at our inn, and I hadn’t had all that much money with me to begin with. I’d need to find a source of local currency soon, particularly if I wanted to get my hands on some of those fascinating enchanted goods and potions I’d seen while walking around. I definitely wanted one of the local wands, if nothing else, and the magic woven into all those robes looked like it could potentially be used to improve my current equipment.